Until you're here with me
by Sassy-Morango
Summary: An Incident with Medusa separates Maka from Soul, leaving no trace of her whereabouts, though he never gave up the search. 2 years later, Maka is a living a normal life; haunted by a past she can't remember. Will he find her, before Evil makes its move?
1. One: Two Years

_This is the First Story I've written, in ages. So I hope It's not too horrible. _

_Obviously, I don't own the Characters or the Universe they live in. ____ Enjoy_

_**Chapter one: Two years **_

_Their soul resonance was higher than it'd ever been before; and with the eerie music playing through their link, Maka knew that this time, the fight was all over. They could do the Demon Slayer wave length now; a move so powerful that it definitely stood a chance against the powerful witch. _

_Well, at this point; it had to._

"_It's over, Arachne!" she said. "I'm stronger than you" And then, one last blow and after one ear piercing shriek coming from the witch, the fight was finally over. Their enemy was down, definitely dead._

_They'd won._

_She kept on looking at the body, in shock of her accomplishment "I… defeated a witch" she said, as she looked at the witch's soul. _

"_We did it!" he said, reaching for the soul, floating over the witch's dead body and gulping it down. They had won the battle, but there was something that bothered her. Maka looked around the dim room, trying to see if she found it. She was looking for something, someone maybe? All she knew, was that right now there was something she needed to be doing…_

_Rachel! The little girl was laying on her side, still unconscious, thankfully. But when Maka turned her around, she could see no traces of one of the faces she was looking for. "Medusa..." That was as far as she was able to go, because the unexpected happened. Slowly, the witch's body began to slowly move, and a familiar voice spoke up "Yes, I think my sister's body fits me rather nicely" The witch stood up, with Medusa possessing her sister's body. This was definitely not over yet._

_Then, an arrow was flying fast in her direction and Maka could only watch in complete horror as it hit her, slashing her flesh and spattering blood around… _

Maka woke up with a start, looking at her surroundings as if to assure herself that she still was in her little apartment. The blonde took a couple of deep breaths to calm her racing heart. It was the third time this week, that she had these dreams. They weren't all the same; but they usually had the same people, and the same kind of situations.

Either her subconscious was trying to tell her something, or she was definitely losing her mind. And to be honest, she wasn't sure which alternative sounded better.

'_It's just a dream'_ she told herself, feeling an odd sensation on her chest as she remembered bits and scene from her dream. It was pretty out there, to be honest, people who turned into weapons and killing monsters and such? Definitely a dream.

_But it felt so real…_

Maka sat up on her bed, glancing at the window for a couple of minutes and seriously pondering going back to sleep. 18 minutes before her alarm clock was about to go off. 18 precious minutes of sleep… gone.

The blonde pushed the covers off her body, no sense in even trying to sleep more now, by the time she'd finally fall asleep, her alarm clock would go off and she'd be even sleepier. At least now she had a head start on her day.

After taking a quick shower, the nineteen year old was poured some cereal, her brain still wandering off to her dream, before she looked at the clock on her wall.

7:43 AM.

Well, it was time for her to get going again. She needed to get going if she wanted to make it to work on time. Maka grabbed her messenger bag and after checking that everything she needed was there; she made it out the door.

Work was… slow, as usual. Maka worked in a little diner; set in a little town in the middle of nowhere; where the usual customers were the same people every day. It certainly made the job easier, and she had enough time to sit around and read whatever book she had taken out the public library (despite the fact that the selection was… scarce to say the least). Perhaps it was because she had had that dream again, but she wasn't exactly feeling satisfied with how her life was going.

But, could she really complain? With the way she had appeared in this town, he had to be thankful that they had pretty much welcomed her with arms wide open. She had been living here for two years; the people had been very good to her. For starters, the diner could get on by perfectly without her, but she still had a job there.

Two years… Maka couldn't believe it sometimes; two years ago, she had woken up in the city's hospital, confused and absolutely terrified. She had to be restrained by the hospital staff; people who she had never seen in her life, who in turn called the doctor; who in turn explained all they knew on her.

It seemed her name was Maka; she was found barely conscious and very injured around outside the city by a family who was driving home after a vacation. The only clue they had about her identity, was a name embroidered on the inside of her jacket. _Maka A_.

She wasn't sure if that name sounded familiar or not; but it certainly beat being named Jane Doe. After all, she didn't really remember anything else, so there wasn't any other name she could go by; and in a way, it wasn't a horrible name to be known as. So, she simply accepted it and moved on. Her last name... was a tricky issue, because the embroidery on the inside of her jacket did not include a surname. Just her first name and an Initial.

_Maka A. _

So, that was how it began. It was a good story for the press, to be honest. Mysterious girl with no past, and all that. The hospital staff tended to her wounds and the doctors tried to figure out the reason she could not remember anything about her past. They quickly discarded neurological lesions or the usual reaasons for her condition. The current diagnosis was Trauma induced Amnesia. Something awful had to had happened to her to her to make her forget everything about her life.

The next step was begin searching for her next of kin. Someone who would step up and help nurse the girl back to health. But... time passed and no one came. In the end, since Maka appeared to be already an adult and she didn't seem to be physically incapacitated... it was all up to her.

It was a daunting decision, really. To keep on looking or to give up. She knew it was probably an awful thing to think of; but what if there wa a reason for this to happen to her? What if her family was horrible and all this had happened while running away? What if her family was shady? What if she had no family? So, she had began putting the search for later and then later and..., and two years later, here she was.

It wasn't as if she had _completely _given up. Every now and then, Maka began looking through missing people's ads. Trying to see if anyone was looking for her. So far… nothing.

And so her life went, normal. With no real highlights during her day, other than minor things; like… when the library got new books. Her life was average, ordinary even.

She hated feeling like this; she _really_ did; considering everything that had happened, she should have been feeling grateful. And she was... somewhat. Considering all that had happened, her life was pretty good; she had a normal job, a nice enough place to live, and was able to further her education in University, where she excelled. The main problem was that Maka couldn't really shake the feeling that there was more.

There had to be more.


	2. Two: 730 days

Second Chapter. I don't own Soul eater, wish I did, but I don't. XD I just liked the characters and decided to play a little with them. Hee.

**Chapter Two: 730****+ Days**

730 days and counting. That was the time Maka had been missing, and Soul refused to give up the search. And as usual, Soul had gone to see if there had been new about Maka. But as usual, there were no news.

The reason he even had to go and pester people for information on Maka, was simply because the Shinigami had ordered to stay away from them. He could go on the missions to follow a lead that came from their research, but they needed him to stop pestering the Intelligence department. It wasn't doing any good to everyone involved.

Why? There were several reasons; First, that he was a death Scythe, therefore, he was a weapon needed in several missions and because his status as a Death Scythe, he could be wielded by any meister with enough experience. Second; he wasn't allowed to be a part of the team, because the Shibusen feared that Soul would end up going insane and leading a bloody rampage that would take out half the globe if the news weren't… _good_.

Third… The search was slowly coming to an end. Maka Albarn was declared MIA. _Missing in Action._

That didn't mean he stopped searching. So, through all these years, he had searched for her. And for two years, he had failed miserably. She wasn't even traceable with Soul Perception, the few times he had forced people into looking for her. He had to find her. She had to be alive. If he didn't find her, or if he found certainty that she was indeed dead; it was quite possible that he'd succumb to insanity, because for now, this search was the only thing keeping Soul sane. The hope that his meister was alive.

Because if he couldn't find her, then that was just another way that he had failed her; and if he had failed her this much, then there was nothing else to hold him together.

Things had been a mess for him since _that_ day. They were finally able to pinpoint the location of Medusa, so the Shibusen had sent them to deal with the witch that had caused so much trouble to the Shibusen and the world.

It was a hard battle; Medusa was no easy adversary, she was a good fighter and she had skills beyond that realm. She fought hard and dirty. But the Spartoi was no longer a group of children fighting. They were still teenagers, yes; but they were certainly experienced enough that they put Medusa in a tight spot. It was a thrill to think that this could actually be the last time they'd have to deal with the obnoxious witch.

As these things usually went; he and Maka had gotten separated from the group, but they had cornered Medusa. And Just when they were going to end the Witch with their Demon Slayer move... Medusa had showed her last ace under her sleeve. Those damned Vector Plates flung them far away, and with enough strenght to force Maka to let go of him.

Somehow, in the couple of seconds (if it even was that long) it took him to turn back into human form and to run to the direction Maka was thrown; it was too late. Medusa had beat him to the spot and was mumbling something as she hovered over Maka; the latter who was doing her best to move away from the witch. Medusa grabbed Maka's witch, and then... it was all over.

There was a flash of light, that successfully blinded soul for one second, and then... he was alone, only hearing the remnants of Medusa's laughter as his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness of the room.

_Gone_.

Soul had fallen down, staring at the place from where his meister had disappeared, blankly staring at the spot where his meister had disappeared from until the rest of the Spartoi found him.

"OY SOUL" Black Star, as usual, was the first one to break the silence that dominated the room. "So? Did you manage to survive without your God in the room?" he gave out a hearty laugh before asking "Where's Maka?"

It was Tsubaki who realized what had just happened first, gentle eyes widening as her hands flew to cover her mouth. "Oh no" she said, putting a hand on Black Star's shoulder, so that the Ninja would stop pestering the weapon.

"She's…gone"

And so, the search had begun. They looked through all the mediums the Shibusen had… and nothing happened. It was like Maka had disappeared from the face of the earth. There was absolutely no sign of her anywhere they'd looked.

The current theory was that Maka was Medusa's prisoner; but even that one didn't hold all that much. It had been a _long_ time for Maka to be missing. Of course, despite that fact, they preferred that alternative from… _the other one_. Which was simply accepting that the young technician had perished in battle.

That was the main reason the search was allowed to continue. It was understood that Maka was likely dead; but the reports and intelligence said that in the likely event that she was alive? She was probably near Medusa. The witch was definitely aware of the potential in Maka, and if there was anything to praise Medusa for, was that she was an excellent strategist. Therefore, they searched for Medusa, and in the event that she still had Maka… they'd make her pay. Medusa had done enough damage already.

Soul couldn't say that he was kept idle. He was an active worker in the Shibuse, sporadically teaching classes (who would have even seen that coming?), but mostly, doing missions. After all, he was a Death Scythe, able to work with any skilled technician. This proved to be a blessing and a curse. It was obvious that Soul was a deadly weapon, and he was likely to succeed no matter who the Meister was... however, it was glaringly obvious that his partnership with Maka was the reason for both their success. He excelled with her.

No, Soul would not stop looking. Not until he found an answer.


	3. Three: A disturbance in the force

**It was a bit of a long time since the last chapter. But, school ate me alive so I didn't have enough time to write. **** I should be able to update faster now, so I'll try to get on that.**

**Again. Characters not mine. **

**Chapter Three: A disturbance in the Force**

The afternoon had gone… alright; Maka had worked and then she had gone to the library to catch up on her reading for when her school year began. All in all, it had been a good day; her shift had been rather dull, as it usually went, but she had gotten a good amount of tips.

Then, the library had been quiet enough (it was vacation time, after all… the population tended to favor other kinds of places during this season); and she had managed to finish up the book she was reading.

All in all… a very productive day.

But it was getting late; and she had to work again in the morning tomorrow, so a full night of sleep was a must. The blonde put her things back in her bag, and then returned the books she wasn't going to check out.

"See you tomorrow, Mrs. Dulin" Maka quietly said her goodbyes from the rest of the working staff and walked to where she had left her bike.

Or, where it should have been parked. Everything but the front wheel. "Damn it!" she said, looking around to see if the bike was somewhere around it. Nope. It was gone. Maka felt the overwhelming urge to hit something… _someone_. But there was nothing to hit people with or even a possible culprit around to unleash her rage on.

Tightening one hand into a fist and holding the only part left from her bike. Maka took one deep breath, before taking the wheel back into the library, asking them to keep it until she… found whatever she needed to do with the damn thing.

Or until she found the stupid bike.

Well, weather was still nice, so Maka figured that she might as well walk. It'd save the public transportation fare for the new bike she now _needed_ to buy.

She put on her pink hoodie and began walking. It wasn't like it'd be a huge distance, to be honest. And it wasn't like she had any other choice either.

The people here were very nice to her; but they didn't go the extra mile to befriend her. Maka had proved that she wasn't a very approachable person, during a couple of incidents. The memorable one happened at the library, where she decked a teenager who was annoying her too much with the third tome of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

It turned out that she was both freakishly strong and surprisingly accurate. The people around did not find it interesting as she did; they found it scary. Oh well.

She just couldn't help it. She had told him to back off, he didn't and… it felt like such a natural response that she wasn't going to apologize for it.

It was beginning to get dark now; but the town she was living was everything but dangerous; so Maka didn't feel the need to rush home just yet. Besides, the weather was nice and it was nice to have a peaceful walk home.

Soon enough, it was dark, and the streetlights had already come on; and the fact that it was getting already late and she needed to sleep being the only reasons she picked up the pace.

That was, of course; until she spotted a frog. Right in the middle of the sidewalk. There wasn't anything extraordinary about this frog; to be honest, however, it looked so out of place. The town's square was all the ways downtown… wait. Did it even have a pond? She didn't really think so, How… odd.

The frog was still, so still, that Maka wondered if it was even real before it croaked in her general direction. _Creepy._

"Shoo!" Maka said, waving at the frog, so that it would finally get away from her. _Nothing_. It was still staring at her. "Shooo!" she said again; before shaking her head at it and sidestepping the little critter and continuing her walk.

But she would have to admit something. The mood for a peaceful walk home? Definitely gone. It was an odd thing to be creeped out about, but the way it had stared at her? It was definitely weird.

"Stupid frog" she muttered, finally reaching the corner of her building, quickly entering and going upstairs to her own apartment, closing the door and turning on the lights.

It was only on moments like this where she'd like to have more friends; or even a pet to come home to. Someone to talk to (or at, in the case of a pet). Maybe she could get a cat?

Cats ate frogs, right?

Oh Gods; she was being absolutely ridiculous about that. Maka shook her head, putting her things on the small sofa she had, before heading into the small kitchen and pulling some random items out of her cupboards to make some dinner.

Soon after, she was sitting on her couch, eating some ramen noodles while watching the daily news. It wasn't the local news, being as her town wasn't big enough to have a news channel; but they did cover most the news in the general area. They did do fluff pieces every now and then, and those were the ones that featured her town.

"_In more worrying news, a wave of disappearances have disturbed the peace in our county. Nine people have disappeared in mysterious circunstances in this past month, without any answer or clue to lead the investigation in the right path…"_ the newsreader gave way for the clip, to which she paid a lot of attention.

It would seem that people had been randomly disappearing. There was no known pattern, no real connection between the people.

The first had been a teenager; who was, at the time of her disappearance, thought of as a rebellious teenager running away from home. The second was an old man, whose dissapearence hadn't been noticed for a long time, since he lived alone and kept mostly to himself. First, thought to be dead inside his home, but it turned out that he was missing; no signs of any struggle, nor anything that could point to where he had gone.

And that had been the case with all the nine people missing; and the worst part? They feared that more people had gone missing, and would go missing unless something was done.

Alrighty then. That was odd. Things like this didn't usually happen in this town. The blonde looked around to see if all the locks were in place; relaxing only when it seemed that everything was in place.

Perhaps she should invest in some sort of alarm system? It would be rather expensive, but she was living on her own, after all.


	4. Four: Accidentally on Purpose

**Chapter four:**** Accidentally on purpose.**

Why were they here? He had no idea. And why this mission involved more than one meister/weapon duo? He also didn't know. The apathetic death scythe shrugged as he, Black Star, Tsubaki, Kidd and the Thompson sisters, set up camp in the safe house destined for their use during this mission.

It turned out that there had been a worrying amount of witch activity in this area; and while the Shibusen wasn't as strict with witches as they used to be… they definitely watched if there was anything weird.

That was the main reason the Shinigami had sent more than one set of Meister/ weapon to do the job. The blatant witch activity, plus the disappearance of so many people spelled trouble; and quite possibly more trouble than one pair could handle. The Shibusen was not going to lose another meister due to understaffing a mission; therefore they were extra careful now.

Soul watched as the rest of the team settled in, lounging lazily on the only comfortable sofa in the house; Kidd was rearranging some of the furniture, much to Patti's delight and Liz' boredom; Black Star was currently emptying the contents of the refrigerator, while Tsubaki tried to dissuade the ninja from doing so, because the rest of the team needed to eat as well.

All in all? A regular gathering for the whole group.

The Death Scythe spaced out, not realizing when he had dozed off on the couch until Liz poked him on the forehead to wake him up. "Ehh?" Soul said, waking up with a start from his comfortable nap.

"Dinner's ready" the weapon said, as she too walked towards the dining table, set by the diligent Tsubaki.

"The Shibusen has said that we should take shifts to patrol"Kidd said, repeating the Mission's orders, "We're only to respond in defense, nothing else until we have the order to do so" He looked around, "So who is going to go first?"

It was no surprise to anyone involved when Black Star perked up from his food immediately; "WE WILL!" he announced, "Your God will scout the land to save you from danger!" the ninja continued "Be thankful"

The rest, being used to the ninja's outbursts… simply nodded and carried on. "Alright, so Black Star and Tsubaki tonight. Tomorrow?"Kidd looked at his weapons… one of them was happily scarfing down the meal, and the other was carefully painting her nails a dark shade of red.. Hmm. He then turned to Soul, who looked… bored.

There was a problem with the way the team had been dispatched. While it was an even number (thank Shinigami for that); the fact remained that Soul did not have a partner. Now, Kidd had two partners, and in the interest of evening things out, one of the sisters could easily just go with the white haired weapon just so that there wasn't anyone alone.

But that meant... he wouldn't be fully symmetrical. Kidd gulped… that was the biggest hindrance on the current arrangement. Maybe if they paired up in threes it could work. The resting time would be less than it'd be if they paired up, but at least this way…

A very annoyed Liz put the lid back on the nailpolish bottle before waving at her Meister.

"oy. **Kidd**!" she said, getting the attention from the Shinigami quickly, as well as drying the polish on her nails (see? Multitasking!) "I'll take the morning one, take a nap and then with you in the night. Now _chill_" she said, fully knowing the reason behind the distress on his face. She did like her beauty sleep, but a distressed Kidd was a direct obstacle to all types of sleep. Beauty sleep included.

Kidd had the decency to look relieved; "Ah." He said, now composed "alright, then Tsubaki and Black Star should be leaving soon; and they should report around six in the morning. Liz and Soul should be leaving around that time too, and return at around four. Chances are that whatever is going on right now, it's active during the night. That should give Liz enough time to…"

Soul tuned him out; as Kidd tried to find a reasonable explanation for his OCD and completely failing to do so; before finally giving up an excuse and going to the room where he was going to sleep.

Eh. If He had to wake up at crack o' dawn. He was going to get a good night's sleep, damnit.

He had to admit that he had not woken up easily. He had a bit of trouble going to sleep so the few hours of rest were not enough. But the alarm had began blasting off, and since they were on a mission… there wasn't much he could do.

Soon enough (he didn't bother with a shower), he was drinking some coffee before they had to go and do a couple of rounds.

If there was one thing the Weapon was happy about, was that his bike had ended up going with them. It was the least they could do, really, and this way they would cover bigger areas easily and not be as conspicuous as if they were just walking around looking curiously at things.

Or so he hoped.

When Soul and Liz stepped out of the house; the sun was just beginning to make its appearance on the sky, which actually looked quite pleasant on the clear sky.

The unlikely duo hopped on the bike, after a brief spat prompted by Liz's desire to drive the bike, which was easily won by Soul. He was not going to surrender his bike. Not now, nor ever.

It was barely six thirty AM, and the small town seemed to be just becoming alive. Why would witches choose this particular town to terrorize? Soul couldn't know, this town seemed like it was dead to him.

So, they were driving through the streets, before Liz pointed out a small diner and proclaimed her need to have some coffee before they could continue. The bad thing, was that it was closed for now, which didn't surprise Soul _at all_.

"We'll drive for a little and then get back here" he offered. He could use some coffee too. Liz nodded, and continued

They had no idea just why this was the plan. Things usually were a little more… _aggressive_ than this. Sure, the Shibusen's policy against' witches had changed from its earlier days, but still… there was no reason for such a big group to be here if they were only going to do a recon mission.

The sun had fully risen by now, meaning a good 45-60 minutes had gone by and Soul was dutifully reminded by the other weapon that he had promised a coffee stop.

The death scythe rolled his eyes and turned in the next corner, ready to head back to the small diner… which seemed the only option they had for coffee.

As they turned around on one of the corners, Soul felt a weird feeling on his chest. Frowning a little, he looked around, only to see a very familiar shade of blonde.

'Maka' he thought, crimson eyes widening for a second as he looked at the blonde girl. Even if he was sure it couldn't be her, first off… what would Maka be doing here, out of all places? Second, no pigtails. That was a no-no for Maka. He knew her, and if there was something she was not giving up, it was her pigtails… even if she was definitely too old for them.

She had been too old for them when he'd met her, for Shinigami's sake.

But then, the blonde girl turned around, pushing the sleeves off her hoodie over her hands, as she peacefully strolled towards the dinner.

"… M-Maka?" a very shocked Soul muttered, getting the attention of Liz who turned to face in the general direction where Soul was staring at.

IT didn't take long for Liz to react "Oh HOLY SH…" the other weapon shrieked when she saw a very alive Maka Albarn.

And then they hit a light post.


	5. Five: Serendipity

I've been inspired lately; thus the two chapters in less than a day. XD

Thanks for the reviews, they make me happy in my hearttt 3 And It's nice to know that you guys enjoy it :).

**Disclaimer:** characters are not mine. I know it. You know it. We all know it. Yay.

**Chapter Five: Serendipity**

To be honest, Maka was minding her own business when she heard a rather loud crash. Turning her head, she saw a couple hit a light post. By the sounds of it, it hadn't been too hard, but she still decided to head over there to see if they were ok.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked them, as the couple was disentangling themselves from the motorbike. It was a light brown haired girl and a white haired guy, both of them wearing a rather familiar looking uniform.

The answer? Silence. Well, silence and a dead stare.

"um…" Maka said, tilting her head at them. Maybe the crash had been a bit harder than she thought "I could call an ambulance if you want?" she said, beginning to turn around and jog to the nearest payphone.

The girl was the first in react. "no, no wait." She said, still sitting on the floor while the white haired guy gaped at her. "We're… uh… mostly fine; just a bit shaken up." She said, glancing at Soul and discreetly slapping him upside the head when Maka wasn't looking. "So… I'm Liz" she said, extending a hand towards the other girl.

"Oh!" Maka said, startled for a second but shaking the offered hand. The girl seemed to be more vocal and she was nice enough. NBl "I'm Maka." She said, slightly embarrassed at forgetting her manners for a second there. She then turned to the guy who was still sitting on the floor. "Nice to meet you" she said, extending her hand out to him.

No response.

"Oh!" Liz said, rolling her eyes and poking Soul with her foot to bring him back to this planet. "He's _Soul_" she said, putting a little emphasis on the other Weapon's name. "And I'm sure he's quite pleased to make your acquaintance" she said, almost facepalming at the Death Scythe's lack of cognitive reaction.

Which made absolutely no sense to Maka. But whatever… "Oh, Ok." She said "Are you sure you guys are alright?" she said, "at least you should get off the streets and rest up…" They could have a concussion or something. You never knew sometimes"Hmmm" Maka looked at her wristwatch… she needed to get going to clock in at the diner. "you could sit at the diner, but you'll need to get at least something or my boss will not be happy" she offered. "Just don't leave that" she nodded towards the scuffed bike "laying around, my bike got stolen yesterday"

Liz and Soul shared a short look, before Liz piped up "that sounds great!" she said, "lead the way?" .

*.*.*.*

Maka was busying around the Diner, every now and then bringing some coffee to the couple who was now discussing something in very hushed tones. She had no real clue on why she had decided to be so helpful; since she used to keep to herself most of the days. Going as out of her way as she had today was not in her character. Or the way she remembered things, at least.

As of now, their bike had been kept in the backroom, just to keep it safe, because other than a few scuffs that needed dire treatment; the bike worked well enough. It probably still needed a check up, but the engine started up alright.

Business was as usual; so Maka had a couple of minutes to sit behind the counter. She pretended to be busy with filling up some empty napkin dispenser; but in reality she was cautiously watching the visitors. She had tied her hair into two pigtails; forgoing the usual ponytail she had used for a long time.

Soul and Liz. That was their names. It would seem to her that Soul had relaxed a bit; since he was now talking with Liz and did not look happy about something, before he grudgingly placed some keys on the table. Liz took the keys and walked out of the diner, but not without awkwardly saying goodbye to her.

That just left her with one other visitor. Maka continued the rather tedious task of filling up the napkin dispenser, still stealing glances at her guest. He looked uncomfortable and incredibly out of place to her. He still hadn't said much to her, but the look on his face unnerved her a little. It wasn't a bad look, like 'I will chop you into tiny pieces and throw you into a trashcan' look, but it was just so _intense_.

Come to think about it. They were both odd. Liz wasn't acting normal at all either. She was just louder and more vocal, therefore hiding it better.

She held his gaze for a couple of seconds, before the ringing sound of the kitchen bell alerted her that food was ready. She bashfully turned towards the window and picked up the plate. Of course she had to bring it to Soul right after having a little staring contest with him.

Deciding that it was better to pretend nothing had happened, Maka picked up his order and brought it to his table. "Cheeseburger and fries" she said, setting it on the table carefully.

"Thanks" he said and they fell into another awkward silence. Now, she could have just ran back to her seat behind the counter and ogled Soul shamelessly again; but she felt compelled to at least try and make an effort here. "Uh… your friend left?" she asked him, attempting to make polite conversation.

"yeah" he said. "she… needed to go get something."

Maka nodded. "ok. Um… tell me if you need anything?" she said, ready to go back and work.

"Maka?"

Maka turned around, feeling kind of stupid at the way she got nervous when he said her name. It sounded… well, Interesting. Yes. She'd go with interesting for now

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

Maka looked around, other than Soul, there was no one else around. Well, there had been other customers through the morning; however, Soul and Liz had stayed longer, ordering fries; milkshakes and the such as they had conversed quietly. "Somewhere around two years," she answered.

"So, you've lived all your life here?"

Oh hell; considering her background, that was quite the incisive question. Her past wasn't something she'd openly share with people; but then again, it was common knowledge in this town. Should he ask around a little, he'd find out enough details to write a book about it. "I… don't really know" she answered, a bashful look appearing on her face "It's odd, really, but I don't really remember much" or anything "before the day I got here".

This appeared to interest him. "Really?" he said. "Nothing before?"

Maka nodded, "mhmm" she said; just the minute when the front door opened "oh. Got to go!" she said, glancing at the elderly couple before sprinting towards the menus and going to wait on the new guests. "I'll check back with you in a little bit" she told him as she walked away to work.

That was… odd. It seemed like he was relieved by her answer.

*.*.*

Liz had convinced Soul in no uncertain words that they needed to report this to the group. Sure, it was obvious that something was wrong with Maka; but it was definitely _her_. She was alive, and that was _huge_ news.

Soul and Liz had discussed on who would go and tell the rest, as they had decided that it was necessary to keep an eye on her; so that they didn't lose her _now_.

Liz refused to walk towards the Shelter. And Soul refused to let Liz drive his bike OR leave the Diner. Therefore, Liz won that argument before it even began and walked out of the diner holding the keys to Soul's precious bike.

She quickly drove towards the house; as quickly as she could. Once she pulled into the drive way, with all the excitement; she barely turned off the already abused bike; jumping out the thing in a second not even noticing that it fell to the ground with loud clattering.

The house was quiet, probably because Black Star and Tsubaki were sleeping after their rounds. Patti could be heard outside in the back, quite possibly practicing her fighting skills on the poor dummy. Kidd was lounging on one of the sofas, and in the back of her mind, Liz realized that the Shinigami had already shifted the furniture around to make it symmetrical.

Of course, her mind was nnot really going to busy itself on that, with the news she had. Liz entered the house pretty much slamming the door open; knocking down a small bookshelf with the racket.

"WE FOUND MAKA" she announced; which in turn made Kidd perk up noticeably. Another door opened and a Tsubaki popped out, followed by a very sleepy looking Black Star.

Kidd was the first to speak "Maka's here?" he said, frowning a little. "I don't… feel her soul anywhere" he added. His soul perception was very good; but he hadn't been able to even feel the other Meister's soul anywhere.

"It's her" Liz insisted. "She doesn't remember anything though. Maybe that's why you can't feel her?"

Kidd nodded, pondering this new piece of information. "Amnesia shouldn't be a reason to change her soul, but…" he said "considering _how _she disappeared, it just might make sense."

"Where is she?" Tsubaki said, sitting down on the sofa, next to Kidd. "Is she ok? Where is she now?"

"She seems to be fine" Liz said, "she's at the diner. Soul's there with her for now." As if the Death Scythe was going to leave his meister's side. At least he was talking now. Liz looked at the group expectantly. "So… what do we do now?"

There was silence. This wasn't what they had signed up for. "We should let my father know" Kidd said, before turning to Liz "since you were there… you should do the report. Then, we" he said , glancing at Patti who was surprisingly quiet. "should go to the diner. We need to find out why we can't see her soul."

Patti nodded as well as Liz, before they went to get ready to leave the house. "Tsubaki, Black Star" Kidd said, "you should stay in the house" he turned to Tsubaki, who seemed about to protest. "whatever it is that happened to Maka, chances are she is very fragile, so we can't overload her with information. Besides, you two need to rest, should anything happen now. "

"I will take no orders from" Black Star's protest was quickly cut short by a loud yawn which was the moment when Tsubaki simply nodded and placed a gentle hand on her meister's arm. They were pretty tired, so it was probably on their best interests that they rested a little. There was a big chance that this assignment was going to be a long one. And that they'd need to call reinforcements; so resting a little for now… definitely a good idea.

Kidd had gone with Liz to give the report back to the Shibusen, in the meantime the rest was left to ponder what they'd do about their just found friend. What if whatever was wrong with her didn't have a solution?

It wasn't long until Kidd and Liz returned from their report; Kidd clearing his throat to subtly call attention to the information he was about to give. "Professor Stein and Death Scythe are going to travel here" he said. "we need to be on guard, but they said that further instructions will be given once they arrive"

Spirit was coming over? Tsubaki's eyes widened. Knowing Maka's father, things were going to get a little more complicated. The death scythe was not very reserved when it came to his only daughter. "we should warn her"

Whatever was wrong with Maka, getting tackled by an overzealous father was definitely not the way to get working on her memories.

"Right." Kidd said, "But we're sticking to the plan. We shouldn't overwhelm her" he turned to Liz "how is Soul dealing with this?"

Liz wrinkled her nose at the question "he's _dealing" _which was as much as they should probably expect out of the scythe "but we should probably hurry and lend him some back up soon." She didn't think he'd be able to be as calm as he was being right now for a long time. With that, the group split up and Kidd with the Thompson sisters headed back to the diner. Things were about to get interesting.


	6. Six: Unveiling

**Generic Disclaimer goes here**. XD obviously Soul Eater isn't mine.I'm just playing with the characters a little :D

I sweaaar, I wasn't trying to be mean with the little cliffhanger. XD I just decided to cut the scene cause if not I would have ended up with a 20 page chapter XD.

Again, I'm really happy that people seem to be liking this story. And really, R&R if you can, ;) I like hearing what you might think, besides, it's nice to know that there are people actually _reading _this XD. It might also be a good way to catch some glaring errors. ¬.¬;

**Chapter Six: The unveiling.**

He thought he would never say this, but this was definitely the most he had eaten in a long time. Three cheeseburgers and fries, he'd lost track of the milkshakes and coffee refills. Perhaps he should have chosen some lighter food, but in a diner? That was a nearly impossible feat.

Liz's plan was not fully hatched, which made him wonder why he had agreed to it. Specially when her plan involved taking his precious bike. Oh right, he needed to finally admit it to himself; the moment his eyes had set on Maka, he had realized that he wasn't going to let his meister out of his sight. That was why. So, just to not get Maka into trouble; he kept ordering food.

Maka had been friendly enough, so much that if he ignored the fact that she didn't seem to remember anything about him… he would think that things were completely normal.

So far, he'd been able to find out bits and pieces of her story; by asking questions every time she'd gone over to leave even _more_ food to him.

Maka had no prior memory from here; it seemed she was in an accident and treated in the hospital here. It was clear to him that she was his Maka, even the wounds she'd vaguely mentioned sounded like the ones she'd sustained during their last battle together.

But he couldn't say a thing about it; he needed to be cool and think of how to handle this whole situation. Hopefully Liz had gathered some more help or back up; he was bound to either slip or say something that would completely freak out Maka or… he would explode.

It was during these musings, that Soul realized that Maka untying the apron she wore on top of her clothes, and it was then when he looked at the time. Wow, had it really been that long since he'd been here? The Scythe quickly reached for his wallet, he needed to pay his bill; and he needed to find a way to keep an eye on Maka and not be _creepy_ about it.

He could already guess that the whole not-being-creepy plan was going to fail horribly.

"You're leaving?" he asked her, once she stopped by his table to give him a last refill of coffee.

She nodded "I'm done for the day" she said, as she held the coffee pot, ready to fill up his cup.

Alright, Soul was running out of time now. "Do you have anything to do now?" he asked. He didn't really want to let her out of sight; and while he could do that without actually talking to her; he wouldn't really mind interacting with her properly. It had been Two years, for crying out loud. "We could… hang out. Or you could show me around the town, or something?"

Maka was evidently startled by the suggestion, pausing a couple of seconds, pondering her answer. He was a complete stranger to her; but he didn't seem that dangerous to her. "I promise I'm not up to anything weird" Soul said, awkwardly shuffling his feet as the girl waited.

Sure, that wasn't the best answer to give, but Maka finally relented. He didn't seem dangerous to her; and besides, they could just walk around the main square, mostly open spaces; which would be safer. Besides, if something did happen? She could take care of herself. She had a hardcover book in her bag, after all…"alright" she said, "But I get to choose where we're going" she paused. "Deal?"

"Deal."

*.*.*

Not long after, Soul and Maka were walking out of the Diner, "I have to warn you" she said "the tour will not be long. There aren't many landmarks here"

"It's ok."

Soul had reverted to a more silent role once more, content with listening to her talk about the story of the older buildings in the town. Frankly, it was dreadfully boring, and a part of Soul was pretty sure that she knew it too. So he waited for her to pause in her rant and asked "do you like it here?"

That took her by surprise. "I… it's alright"

"That's not what I asked" Soul said "there's a difference between being ok with something and liking it."

Maka seemed flustered for a second, "It's not ideal. But with everything that happened; it's _safe"_ she said. "I can't say I have many friends here, they are a very close knit community. But I know people, and they cared for me when I needed it"

"Was it really that bad?"

They were now walking through the town square, so Maka stopped at one of the benches and said "we should sit down and rest for a little"

Soul gulped. Maybe he'd gone a little bit too far with his question "uh... you don't have to answer if you don't want …" he began.

"Oh. It's…I mean." Maka frowned. "I think the worst part is not knowing exactly what happened." She bit her lip "It was pretty bad though. I don't really remember most of it… I pretty much woke up on the hospital." Her hand unconsciously trailed over her shirt, right where one of her scars would be. "I was pretty banged up though"

It was so odd for him. He was right next to her, and while things almost felt as they used to be. They didn't have the familiarity they used to have, so he couldn't put his arm around her shoulders as he would have done before. This was alright for now, Maka had been through something horrible; but the desire to know was overpowering. "And how about any family? Friends?"

"Well, we did try to find…someone who knew me, but nothing happened. So in the end, we just gave up. I wasn't a minor, so the whole searching thing was up to me. So… eventually, I realized that there wasn't anyone looking for me, the way I was looking for them, so I decided to just move on."

Her answer almost made Soul want to murder people _and_ himself. They _had _been looking for her; but for now they hadn't used the more traditional methods of looking and used more supernatural resources. He now saw that it was a mistake.

Who knew if they would have found her sooner if they had simply put up a poster? The thought of it was enough to make him _rage_.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worried green eyes staring at him. "You look… upset"

Upset? You could say that. Soul stood up from the bench and began pacing a little. "I'm fine. Just…." He ran his hand through his silver hai, his voice sounding a little more strained than what he would have hoped.

This was a little more than he had bargained for right now. He had wanted to talk to her. He had even thought that something in their conversation would be enough to jumpstart her memory and all would be better.

He had not wanted to hear just how easy finding her would have been. And how they had wasted two years. She could have been back to normal right now.

If Maka wasn't worried before, she definitely was worried _now_. "Are you feeling alright?" she said, standing up "maybe you should have gone to the doctor…"

"I'm fine, really" Soul said, his voice finally returning back to normal, sitting down and looking at her so that she'd sit down next to him again, which she did, though reluctantly.

Soul took a deep breath. "Do I look familiar to you?" he asked.

"I… don't know"

"At all?"

"I don't know!" she insisted. "That's the worse thing. I know that I could run right past someone I knew, and if they miss me, there goes another chance at finding out what happened"

It was a frustrating situation; because for some reason it was different with him, than it was with every other stranger; but she couldn't pinpoint the reason. Then, his questioning began to make sense. Did they know each other? Maka's eyes narrowed a little, looking at him with an accusatory glare. "You're hiding something from me!" she said, "Oh My God! Do you know me? That's why you two looked at me like that when we met!" He looked like he'd seen a ghost when they had ran into each other early in the morning. That had to be the reason.

Oooh, things began to make sense. "Who are you?" she insisted, green eyes narrowed and accusatory.

"We couldn't say it at once!" he defended himself. "Would you have believed it?"

"Were you planning on telling me?" she said, standing up to glare at the white haired male. "Or were you just going to play around for as long as you could?" Oh, she was offended _now_. They were evil people who were here to toy with her emotions!

"I just did!" Soul said, standing up to follow Maka, who was now pacing, doing his best to appease the girl, trying to catch her eyes to show her that he was sincere. He hadn't meant to hide things from her; just delay the truth until he knew the best way to deal with things.

He wasn't sure how things would be now, but if they were anything like before… things didn't end up well when she was mad like this.

"I… uh…ARRRRG" the blonde girl huffed, stomping her feet on the ground. And before Soul could even say anything, the hardcover romance novel on her bag landed straight on his head.

"Holy….Damn it!" he should have seen it coming; but he had to admit he was partly glad at the blonde's reaction. Why? A Maka Chop brought a sense of normalcy into a very abnormal situation. The bad thing? It hurt like a little bastard. He was about to protest Maka's use of violence when a new voice distracted them.

"And _this_ is why Liz should have stayed." Kidd. That smug bastard. The Shinigami appeared, in his typical black suit and with his typical smugness, along with Liz and Patti… who seemed to be about to burst with excitement. Patti had always been quite supportive of his never-ending search for Maka; having trained hard when they entered the Book of Eibon to save Kid. Still, supportive or not; Soul wasn't letting her tackle Maka, so he took a protective step just in case the bubbly weapon decided to launch herself at Maka. "And what took you so long?" he asked.

"You moved. And kept moving, actually." Kidd said, "So we had to look for you"

"Yeah," Liz said. "I thought you'd still be at the Diner"

"Right." Soul said, before being interrupted by a still annoyed Maka.

"Um. Hi there" Maka said, her hands resting on her hips as she tapped her foot on the ground. "I'm Maka, but I assume you knew that already." She said "who are you, and would you all mind telling me what's going on here?"

*.*.*.*

Kidd was currently looking at Maka, pondering what could have possibly happened to her, while simultaneously trying to look at her soul. After a very long introduction of who they were, what they were, who she used to be; Maka had calmed down a little; though it was obvious that she didn't fully trust them yet. The good thing, was that she was _still _ a little bookworm, therefore she knew of weapons and meisters. It just sounded so far away to her; that she hadn't even thought of it being a possibility. All

"We're members of the Shibusen, in Death City. And we're the members of the SPartoi, it's Elite squad. So were you."

"Death City is so far away" Maka said "how would I end up here?"

"That's what we need to work on finding out." Kidd said, before falling silent again; simply watching the exchange. Maybe bringing Tsubaki would have been a good idea. The Weapon had been a very close friend of Maka's and her calm demeanor would have helped their case here.

But now, Kidd was focusing on Maka's Soul, which he had no longer any trouble spotting. That had been the weirdest thing of all. When they got to where Maka and Soul were talking, Maka's soul didn't look like it used to. And while he could now easily recognize it _now; _there had been some definite changes. He could say that it was still.. morphing. Like whatever had happened to her had damaged her soul; but she had survived it and her soul was still healing. His theory was that a part of her soul was missing; taking away all her memories of her past life; after all… your formation, the events in your memory shape your life and soul. Why wouldn't a grave case of amnesia strip a soul from its typical features?

Still, there was something very curious about it; something that he needed to discuss further with Stein once he got here. Speaking of that "Maka, your father is arriving in town tomorrow"

Soul perked up immediately. Despite everything; he still didn't get along with the other Death Scythe "I don't think that's a good idea…" he began. Maka was clearly overloaded right now. Add in a overzealous Spirit and she might collapse.

"He and Professor Stein are travelling… We didn't have a choice in the matter"

Maka took immediate offense "Why wouldn't it be a good idea?" she said, "I'm not going to break, you know?"

There was a shared look between the all the present weapons. "um. You see…" Liz began "your papa can be a little…overbearing sometimes." Actually, she was still doubting that Stein was coming BECAUSE of Spirit and not the opposite. She was almost positive Death Scythe would turn into a blubbering mess when he saw his long lost daughter, not that she could blame him, especially since Death Scythe numero dos hadn't left Maka's side since the moment they had stumbled upon her.

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"Maka asked.

Kidd answered in the most calm manner "you'll come to the safe house with us"

The look on Maka's face quickly told anyone that Kidd's plan was not going to happen. "Excuse me?" she said "I'm sorry, but I barely know you. IT's not that I don't believe you" It was that she didn't _fully_ believe them _yet_ "But I'm not going somewhere alone with you. I'll be going to my home, and…" She paused "I'll meet you here tomorrow." She declared, making it quite clear that she wasn't going to budge an inch from her plan.

Alright. That plan wasn't going to work out. "Would you mind if we have your home under surveillance?" Kidd insisted. If Maka wasn't going to go with them, they should still keep an eye under her. They hadn't found witches yet, but chances were that there were some witches around. And now, given the backstory of Maka's disappearance, it was very likely that it had something to do with Maka.

Maka, however, didn't seem too keen on the idea "I've been living alone for a while, you know?" she said "I don't _need _to be watched over"

"I'll do it" Soul said, ignoring Maka's protests for now. "Just need to get my bike" he turned to Liz "did you bring it back?"

Liz's facial was a special mix of annoyance and acceptance. "It's at the house. We…" she said, glancing at Kidd, "couldn't fit everyone on it, so it wasn't an acceptable means of transportation."

Of course, the symmetrically obsessed Shinigami would decide to walk instead of taking the bike, making this a little more complicated. Now, the troublesome part was getting Maka to go with him to get his bike and all… "Uh" he turned to Maka "we could go and get it and then I'd take you to your apartment". He offered, but was instantly answered in the expected way.

"Nope"

Now, Soul looked almost physically pained. He did not want to go and leave Maka to get the bike; but he didn't want them to manhandle his bike anymore.

"Get it in the morning; for crying out loud" Liz said, while a very amused Patti giggled at Soul's evident distress. "no one will touch the damn thing!"

"I make no promises for Black Star though" Kidd said, before turning to Maka "fine. You may go to your own place tonight" he told her, prompting a very annoyed look from the girl, "but you two will need to report first thing in the morning to the safe house."

Maka looked like she was going to protest, but Soul answered before she could speak. "We'll be there" he said, before turning to Maka "we can go when you want".

The combination of narrowed eyes followed by an innocent smile was probably not a good indicator for what was coming. "Fine." She said "I just need to run some errands first."

*.*.*.*

Soul should have known this wasn't a good idea. There was evil written on the girl's face as clear as day the moment they had walked off the park. First. They went to the library; where she had returned a couple of books and taken out a couple new ones.

Good to see that some things stayed just the same.

Then, it was time to go to the grocery store, where she proceeded to take very long to pick… the basic supplies for spaghetti. All the while, barely talking to him. It was obvious that she was not pleased with him or the plan for tonight. So, she had evidently decided to torture him.

The sun was beginning to set. It was beginning to get dark when they finally began walking back to wherever it was she lived. Soul had given up on trying to start a conversation for the time being; deciding to let her cool off her indignation and carrying some of her things.

"This is it" she said, reaching a small building. It was… charming, you could say, not enough floors to have an elevator; but Maka lived only on the fourth floor, so it wasn't much of a walk. They reached her apartment and she reluctantly let him in.

"That's where you'll stay." She said, pointing to a small sofa that was most definitely not big enough to fit him. Maka then turned towards the kitchen and began busying herself with dinner. Soul placed his jacked on the sofa, before sitting on it. It wasn't… hard, but it was definitely not going to be a good night's sleep. Oh well… nothing he could do about it _now. _So, for the moment, the Scythe decided to sit back and watch Maka prepare an extremely simple dinner of spaghettis with tomato sauce. The express meal was done fast; and Soul got up and helped with the dishes so they could eat, while she called her boss to tell her that she wasn't going to be able to make it to work tomorrow.

At the beginning… it was a very quiet dinner. But it seemed that Maka was done being mad at him; because she was the one to break the silence. "Tell me about yourself"

"Huh?" Soul hadn't been expecting her to start talking to him so soon and especially not because of this.

"Tell me about yourself" she reiterated, "All I've heard today was that you all knew me. But I don't know anything about you"

"I uh…" Soul began "We were in the Shibusen, we were partners…." He began, before being interrupted by Maka again.

"I know that" she said and sighed "I I just want to hear something _more_, something I would know, despite being a… Meister and all that"

Soul looked at Maka, _really looked at her_. And while at first glance, he definitely he could see the girl he had known for so long; he also could see a girl who was desperate to find out just what had happened to her. But he also knew that despite how much he wanted to tell her… everything; it probably wasn't a good idea. Maka stared back at him, her emotions clear on her face. Curiosity, hope and just a tad of desperation. He needed to be more careful with her and he needed to protect her so that whatever happened from now on helped her get better; not the other way around.

So he chose his words carefully, picking a simple story as not to overwhelm her. "We were partners." He began, hurrying when she seemed about to protest the lack of information. "I was playing the piano in one room at the Shibusen, and you simply walked up to me and asked to be partners" he smiled slightly at the memory "even if the song was anything but friendly"

"Were we good friends?"

Soul looked at Maka, who was giving him a small smile and nodded, not trusting his words right now. He had to be cool about this, damnit. He couldn't overwhelm her.

The good thing was that it seemed that her curiosity on them was satisfied for the moment, "What about the rest?"

"Um...You've met Liz, the other two were Kidd and Patti" he said "They work together; Kidd is the Meister and Liz and Patti, who are sisters, are his weapons."

"So, it's just you four?" she asked.

"No," Soul answered, "there's two more at the Base House. Black Star and his weapon, Tsubaki. We usually spend time with those two, you talked a lot with her"

That seemed to get her attention; and she spent the rest of their dinner poking his brain for information. Who were their friends; what were they like, what were the classes about, and stuff like that was enough to satisfy her curiosity for the night. It was only when Maka caught him yawning for the fifth time that she stopped her questioning. "You should get some sleep" she told him, reaching for the dirty plates and putting them on the sink. "Tomorrow's going to be a busy day, I guess"

"Yeah" he said, standing up from his seat and going over to help her clean up. Soon enough, they were done, and it was time to actually go to bed.

Maka opened a small closet and pulled out some blankets, which she handed over to him, along with a small pillow. Once Soul was somewhat settled in, Maka walked over to her bedroom, stopping for a second when she was at the door.

"Everything ok?" Soul asked, who looked rather funny on the sofa, since his legs were a little too long for the sofa, therefore, they were hanging over the edge. When he felt Maka stop, he propped himself up on his elbows to look at her.

"um… no" Maka said, turning around to face Soul, still standing by the doorframe. "I'm fine" she said, smiling bashfully at him "just… good night Soul" she softly said, before quietly entering her room.

"Good night Maka." He answered, only laying back on the sofa when he heard the soft click of her bedroom door closing.


End file.
